Illinois: Jenkins Marsh/VanZelst Farm

Ducks Unlimited and its partners have protected 237 acres of land in Illinois as part of the Jenkins Marsh/VanZelst Farm project. The plan (pending restoration) is to transfer ownership to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' Woodford County State Fish and Wildlife Area.

To date, this project is an acquisition, but the protected area contains approximately 100 acres of restorable marsh, a wetland fen, floodplain forest and upland bluff forest that provides a magnificent view of the Illinois River Valley. Restoration plans include rehabilitation of a levee and restoration of cropland to prairie or bottomland hardwood.

Additional improvements, such as parking lots, are planned to facilitate public use as a designated waypoint on the Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway.